Eugene Moleon, Ted Williamson and Ian McGregor have been confirmed by Cricket Ireland as the three head coaches in this year's Hanley Energy Inter-Provincial Series.

This will be Eugene Moleon's fourth season in charge of the Northern Knights, with the affable South-African born coach winning the IP Cup back in 2013.

The Northern Cricket Union has also appointed Gavin Rodgers as Assistant Coach to Moleon for 2016 following a successful period in the role.

"We received some high quality applications for these roles, but our succession planning is aiming to appoint as many coaching roles from within Ireland," said Cricket Ireland Performance Director Richard Holdsworth.

"All three successful applicants have been involved in coaching their teams in the previous three years of the competition, and each has shown a significant commitment to professional development and furthering their coaching ability," continued Holdsworth.

"We would like to see them use their knowledge and skills to take their respective players and teams forward and be highly competitive in their respective environments.

"The competition is going from strength to strength after three years, and the next part of our evolution is to gain first class status for the 3-day championship. This will challenge both the players and coaches in helping develop Irish players of the future."

Ted Williamson led Leinster Lightning to a clean sweep of trophies in 2015 in a superb first season in charge after taking over at the helm from Trent Johnston.

Ian McGregor was granted temporary charge of the North-West Warriors last year when Bobby Rao left for a coaching post in India, and will relish the opportunity to continue the progress made by the region since the competition started back in 2013.

The 2016 Hanley Energy Inter-Provincial Cup commences on May 2nd, when the Northern Knights take on Leinster Lightning at Stormont. The first game in the IP20 Trophy is at Merrion on Friday May 13th between Lightning and NW Warriors, while the IP Championship gets under way on Tuesday May 17th when the Knights host Lightning.

There will be a formal launch of the 2016 Hanley Energy Inter-Provincial Series at the end of April - further details will be released in due course.